Review: "Why Does God Care Who I Sleep With?"

 

Why Does God Care Who I Sleep With? By Sam Allberry is part of Good Books “Questioning Faith” series.

This book is aimed at helping Christians to understand the biblical word on who is acceptable to “sleep” with and when. That is, between one man and one woman in marriage.

In the first two chapters, Allberry looks at what happens when people have sex outside of the biblical mandate.  Here, he also considers what a person is worth – if sex in an unbiblical situation harms those involved, as he argues, one need to consider what a person is worth – to God and to other humans.

Then he considers the purpose of sex and concludes it is for reproduction and all the aspects of oneness between the man and the woman. The one aspect that is not here – that I have raised elsewhere – often to raised eyebrows – is that sex is also to be purposed as worship.  Not worship of each other or the sex act itself, but the worship of God for creating humans able to have dex, for sex in marriage, for the pleasure of sex, and so forth.

In the next three chapters, he rightly argues that the biblical teaching is that sex is only to be between a man and his wife.  The arguments against that in biblical days and now is the low value of marriage and the putting of pleasure on a pedestal while considering the act disposable.  Today we talk about “friends with benefits” – sex is meaningless except for the pleasure of the moment.

Allberry spends time addressing those who have sinned in this area and points one to the forgiveness found in Jesus.  From this, he addresses the question of whether or not sex is a necessary part of being a Christian and one’s fulfillment.  The answer is “no.” As Jesus explained, some are eunuchs for the Kingdom.

He concludes by arguing that “love” is not enough to justify and hold together people who desire to “sleep” together outside of marriage.  What one may call “love” without God and His blessing is less than it should be and is not approved by God.

Allberry’s book is well-written and biblical.  It sets forth the biblical mandate on sex.  This book is good for any Christian, but I would like to see it read in the context of a Bible study with Junior High or High School students -= especially given the culture we live in.

[This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com].

Review: "40 Questions about Women in Ministry"

 

I have read another volume in Kregel’s “40 Questions” series:  40 Questions about Women in Ministry by Sue Edwards and Kelley Mathews.

Like the other volumes in the series – the 40 questions are divided into smaller components of consideration.  Here we find:

Introductory Issues

Questions related to the Old Testament

Questions related to the New Testament and beyond

Current Issues

The authors put effort into presenting both major sides of the debate:  the side that says women are limited in the ministry they can participate in, and the side that says there is no intrinsic limitation in the ministry women can participate in.

Reflection on who the questions were answered historically and what ought to be done to protect women and not make them to be less than God’s Image-bearers – equal with men in this – are worthwhile investigations, but the primary issue is understanding what the Scripture actually says.

It is rightly argued that the Scripture must be understood in context – and there may be occasions where a question is being asked where the reader only hears and answer – and so forth – possibility making understanding the text more difficult.

After examining the Scripture rightly, then I would argue history comes into the discussion – not merely what was done historically, but how the texts were understood historically.

This books is useful in understanding the arguments of the two major interpretations of the issue of women in ministry, which is seems to be the goal of the volume, but I would find a volume that argues one way or another – drawing conclusions from the Scripture against other views – maybe several books – to be able to better see the arguments played out.

[I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.]